• Journal of Labour Economics
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.25-52
• /
• 2004

The work history of the workers injured in industrial accidents was recomposed by combining the database on compensation for industrial accidents with the database on employment insurance among those who were newly classified as disabled during the period from 1998 to 2000. It shows that the injured workers mainly returned to the original workplaces, and such workers had higher job retention rate. It is in contrast with the higher separation rate of the workers who started to work at the new workplace after medical recuperation. And it is found that 61% left or lost their jobs out of the injured workers who returned to work, and 77% of the job separators had job tenure less than one year. The analysis based on competing risks model shows that the workers at the smaller workplace have the shorter the employment duration, and the longer job-searching period has the negative effect on the employment duration of the job losers. In addition, the longer employment duration at the first job after medical recuperation is more effective on the reemployment and job stability after separation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.845-853
• /
• 2023

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a roadmap for reducing serious accidents to create a "safe and healthy workplace, happy Korea" and ordered a risk assessment for all work processes in all workplaces on November 30, 2022. Accordingly, even workplaces that handle new chemicals must conduct risk assessment when introducing new chemicals, but the risk assessment techniques currently proposed by the government focus on preventing conventional accidents such as falls, getting caught, and bumping. Currently, there is a Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM) technique that is most commonly used for chemical risk assessment, but in small and medium-sized businesses that lack professional manpower related to chemical substances, there are many technical terms in the technique and it is difficult to interpret, so its utilization is very low. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present a method that can make risk assessment easier and simpler before handling new chemicals so that it can be used well in small and medium-sized businesses that lack professional manpower related to chemical substances. Through actual cases, the method of using CHARM was confirmed step by step, and based on this, risk reduction establishment and execution methods were derived. Based on the results of this study, it is expected that it will be used as the best tool for preventing accidents such as acute poisoning when handling chemicals in small and medium-sized workplaces that lack professional manpower related to chemical substances and make every effort to protect workers' health.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.148-157
• /
• 2011

Objectives: Although compensation for occupational injuries and diseases is guaranteed in almost all nations, countries vary greatly with respect to how they organize workers' compensation systems. In this paper, we focus on three aspects of workers' compensation insurance in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries - types of systems, employers' funding mechanisms, and coverage for injured workers - and their impacts on the actual frequencies of occupational injuries and diseases. Methods: We estimated a panel data fixed effect model with cross-country OECD and International Labor Organization data. We controlled for country fixed effects, relevant aggregate variables, and dummy variables representing the occupational accidents data source. Results: First, the use of a private insurance system is found to lower the occupational accidents. Second, the use of risk-based pricing for the payment of employer raises the occupational injuries and diseases. Finally, the wider the coverage of injured workers is, the less frequent the workplace accidents are. Conclusion: Private insurance system, fixed flat rate employers' funding mechanism, and higher coverage of compensation scheme are significantly and positively correlated with lower level of occupational accidents compared with the public insurance system, risk-based funding system, and lower coverage of compensation scheme.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.81-92
• /
• 2023

According to the 2020 industrial accident reports of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of fatal accidents in the construction industry over the past 5 years has been higher than in other industries. Of these more than 50% of fatal accidents are initially caused by fall accidents. The central government is intensively managing falling/jamming protection device and the use of personal protective equipment to eradicate the inappropriate factors disrupting safety at construction sites. In addition, although efforts have been made to prevent safety accidents with the proposal of the Special Act on Construction Safety, fatalities on construction sites are constantly occurring. Therefore, this study developed a model that automatically detects the wearing state of the worker's safety helmet and belt using computer vision technology. In considerations of conditions occurring at construction sites, we suggest an optimization method, which has been verified in terms of the accuracy and operation speed of the proposed model. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of inspection and patrol by construction site managers, which is expected to contribute to reinforcing competency of safety management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.92-100
• /
• 2018

According to 'The Analysis of Industrial Accidents in 2016' by Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of deaths caused by accidents in the construction field is 391, accounting for 47% of 826 industrial fatalities in all industries. The breakdown of the 391 fatalities of the construction industry shows that 'struck by an object' accident had 30 fatalities, the 3rd in frequency following falling (235) and crashing (32) accidents. This study aims to explore ways to reduce the 'struck by an object' accident with emphasis on safety education and certificate system for rigging and slinging works. This study reviews literature on rigging and slinging works and analyzes 'struck by an object' accidents. The rules and regulation on the rigging and slinging works are also reviewed both for Korea and other countries with best practices in construction safety such as Singapore, Japan, U.K., and U.S. The rigging and slinging certificate systems of those countries are also reviewed to find any advantage in the construction safety management. In addition, a pilot rigging and slinging certificate system was executed in one of domestic construction site followed by two surveys: one on the riggers who participated in the pilot operation and the other on general managers in domestic construction sites. Based on the analysis of the 'struck by an object' accidents and pilot operation, this study proposes a rigging and slinging certificate system to reduce accidents, enhancing safety condition of construction sites. The certificate system was proposed in a way to accommodate working practice of construction sites. Depending on rigging careers and a crane load capacity, riggers are eligible to apply either basic or master certificate which makes difference in the level of rigging works. The safety condition of rigging and slinging work could be substantially enhanced if workers, managers, supervisors, administrators, and policy makers work together consistently.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.29-33
• /
• 2008

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Labor for the past 6 years, work-related accidents in the construction industry have been on the continued increase, resulting in social and economic losses that are difficult to determine at an exact amount. However, the number will likely get much bigger if unreported cases are included, considering the fact that the aforementioned statistics are based soley on the applications filed with Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service. The practice of businesses choosing not to report and dealing with industrial accidents in an unauthorized manner is defined as "concealment of industrial accident". The reason the employers tend to engage in the concealment practice even at their huge cost is a "pre-qualification" scheme for the applicants in the government procurement process. Under the pre-qualification scheme, the applicants with a high rate of industrial accidents receive a low grade and become less attractive candidates in the procurement process, thus losing an opportunity to win a contract. Such failure relates directly to the fate of business organizations, to survive or not. That is why they are making all-out efforts to obtain a high grade in the pre-qualification evaluation. With regard to the accident-concealment problem, the following can be mentioned as preventive measures: (1) To exclude a rate of industrial accidents from the pre-qualification scheme; (2) To strengthen the institution of imposing penalties on the occurrence of industrial accidents; (3) To introduce private insurance system to the current industrial accident compensation insurance; and (4) To give non-recognition treatment to industrial accidents that were not reported upon occurrence. In conclusion, the concealment problem can be resolved if the aforementioned measures are to be taken continuously along with corrective measures against institutional deficiencies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.202-210
• /
• 2006

Objectives : Although dairy farming ranks as the industry with the highest injury incidence rate, the information on the injuries is limited in Gyeonggi Province. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of farm accidents and injuries. Methods : The occurrence of accidents among dairy farmers due to work-related injuries were investigated from 2,799 dairy farms of Seoul Dairy Cooperative. Among 171 total accidents, the number of accidents for human was 108. In this study, the 108 human accidents were investigated. Results : The results of this study were as follows; First, the injury rate in dairy farming was 1.60%. Second, the highest injury in dairy farm was occurred in the spring and at 6~8 p.m. Third, a variety of injuries occurred when doing the milking. Fourth, cow, machinery and falls were among the most common causes. Fifth, the most common injuries was fracture (52.8%) and the most common body part of injuries were torso (25.9%), legs (22.2%) and hand (18.5%). Sixth, 45% of the accidents indicated the lost work time from 4 weeks to 3 months. Recommendations: With the results, it is recommended that practical control methods to prevent accidents in dairy farming, for instance, wearing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) or designing a moderate floor of works etc. be studied and developed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Construction Safety
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 2021

Recently, buildings have become larger, more complex, and various construction methods have been tried. As a result, the use of construction equipment continues to increase, as well as safety accidents. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's report on industrial accidents, the rate of deaths caused by construction equipment among construction accidents has been increasing steadily since 2009. In the safety field of other industries such as crime and traffic, research has been continuously conducted to develop quantitative indicators due to demands for development of evaluation indicators or risk index development. On the other hand, construction equipment has been studied to analyze disaster cases and come up with improvement measures, but there is no research related to risk index. Therefore, the research will develop a quantitative index that can determine the risk level of construction equipment in the field based on the accident case and verify the possibility of use in the field.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.321-327
• /
• 2011

Objectives: To find out from an analysis of empirical data the levels of influence, which a labor union (LU) and Occupational Safety and Health Committee (OSHC) have in reducing the occupational injury and illness rate (OIIR) through their accident prevention activities in manufacturing industries with five or more employees. Methods: The empirical data used in this study are the Occupational Safety and Health Tendency survey data, Occupational Accident Compensation data and labor productivity and sales data for the years 2003 to 2007. By matching these three sources of data, a final data set (n = 280) was developed and analyzed using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: It was found that a workplace with a LU has a lower OIIR than one without a LU. In manufacturing industries with five or more employees in 2007, the OIIR of the workplaces without a LU was 0.87%, while that of workplaces with a LU was much lower at 0.45%. In addition, workplaces with an established OSHC had a lower OIIR than those without an OSHC. Conclusion: It was found that the OIIR of workplaces with a LU is lower than those without a LU. Moreover, those with the OSHC usually had a lower OIIR than those without. The workplace OIIR may have an impact on management performance because the rate is negatively correlated with labor productivity and sales. In the long run, the OIIR of workplaces will be reduced when workers and employers join forces and recognize that the safety and health activities of the workplace are necessary, not only for securing the health rights of the workers, but also for raising labor productivity.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.195-202
• /
• 2020

The production of larger of ships is a survival strategy for global shipping companies to pursue the economics of scale. According to this strategy, to respond to this situation, many containers are loading/unloading simultaneously in the hub port. Additionally, the container terminals are promoting the introduction of automation to expand the terminal facilities and increase efficiency/productivity of the container yards. European ports have introduced automation to address rising labor costs and shortages of labor. Recently, the construction of fully automated container terminals is increasing in the United States and China to resolve problems such as the slow growth of the global economy, the emergence of large ships, air pollution, and safety accidents. Domestic ports are at an early stage compared to the world's advanced container terminals, and countermeasures are being prepared to respond to the changing ports. However, research on the recognition difference analysis that examines the opinions of stakeholders is insufficient. As a result of analyzing the recognition among the groups, it was found that container terminal operators reduced labor costs, improved shipping services for shipping companies, prevented safety accidents for port union labor, and increased service for port authority and government agencies. Thus, to closely examine the perception among the groups, one-way ANOVA was performed, and then the implications were deduced as the basic data for the smooth introduction of automation.